Sections 53 and 54 of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law, Law 144(I) of 2007 ("the Investment Services Law") made provision for the establishment of a board responsible for organising examinations on an annual basis or more frequently for persons employed by Cyprus Investment Firms wishing to qualify to perform functions including receiving and transmitting orders in relation to financial instruments, executing orders on behalf of clients, dealing on own account, portfolio management, investment advice and underwriting financial instruments or placing financial instruments on a firm commitment basis.
The Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets (Amendment) Law of 2012 abolishes these arrangements and transfers responsibility for the examination and certification of any person employed by a Cyprus Investment Firm or credit institution to the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. The Investment Services Law as amended now also allows the supervisory authorities, namely the Cyprus Central Bank, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and the Authority for the Supervision and the Development of Cooperative Societies, to issue policy directives regulating the qualifications of persons providing investment services.
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